¡Ombligo!

Samsara


Thanks to Scensational Sali who sent me a boatload of Guerlain samples. While most people have access to Guerlain fragrance, I have almost none. Dillards is the only store locally that has a Guerlain counter. I have never had a good experience at Dillards, the only good encounter was probably at the Guerlain counter where they at least took the time to spray tissues with fragrances for me.

Today, I'm testing Samsara. On the Guerlain site they say this about Samsara: In Sanskrit, Samsara means eternal circle of life. It is an imaginary place, sacred and mysterious, where Orient and Occident meet. Samsara is the symbol of harmony, of absolute osmosis between a woman and her perfume. It is a spiritual voyage leading to serenity and inner contemplation.

The bottle, in the sacred red of the Orient, echoes the figure Khmer dancer in the Musée Guimet in Paris, her hands folded in a gesture of offering, expressing plenitude and femininity.

The stopper evokes the eye of Buddha, a symbol of meditation which leads to detatchment and supreme enlightment.

The notes are:

Top: Citrus Notes, Ylang-Ylang
Middle: Jasmine, Iris
Bottom: Tonka Bean, Sandalwood, Vanilla.

When I first applied it I got strong but flowery sandalwood with a hint of ylang-ylang. As it dries down however it seems that the tonka bean and vanilla take over the sandalwood. As my allergies were acting up, I didn't apply any fragrance today until this evening. This is perfect as an evening fragrance year round! If applied lightly, I think this could be a year round daytime fragrance as well. The second time I applied it, I was finally able to detect some orange.

It retails for $58/1.7 oz and can be purchased anywhere Guerlain is sold but I wouldn't recommend buying it from Dillards.

The Top Ten Things I've Learned While Shopping At Dillards.

1. As soon as you make eye contact with a sales associate, they will hassle you until you purchase something. They keep shoving bottle after bottle in your face and tell you "I know exactly what you're looking for."

2. DO NOT PICK UP THE TESTER BOTTLES!!! While they are out on the counter for everyone else to use - I'm forbidden to pick them up as EVERYTIME I attempt it, swarms of sales associates swarm over to spray the testers themselves - for your shopping benefit - of course!

3. No matter what I say the very first fragrance they will tell me that I NEED either JLo Glow or JLo Still. In fact when JLo Still was first on the market the sales associate told me no less than four times "Everyone, just loves Still and I know you will too."

4. Don't bother to ask any questions because nobody knows the answer, in fact they will ask the other sales associates around to justify that nobody knows the answer. While looking at you as if you're telling lies and making up hard questions just to stump them.

5. Sales Associates have their own "Fight Club." Last April, my best friend needed to buy a gift, as she knows nothing about fragrances she asked me to accompany her. As we were looking around the first sales associate who was working the Dolly Girl tester in the front asked us if we needed help as we stopped in front of the Givenchy counter. Before we are even given a chance to answer, the sales associate from Givenchy rushes out from behind the counter and said "No, they don't need your help!" Then she turned to us in a sweet voice and said "Have you tried our newest fragrance Very Irresistable?" and then the other sales associate screamed to her "They were mine first!" as the fighting match continued, we slinked away!

6. Don't ask for samples as they don't exist! Sure, Dillards will put in full page ads that state "Come in for your free sample today." But you can't ask for them once you get there because they don't have any and never had any in the first place....until you buy something! Then the magical samples grow out of the ground grow like mushrooms and you are at least given one or two with your purchase, if you're lucky. As I'm not, I then go from counter to counter with my bad, play with the makeup for at least twenty minutes when I make my move to ask for samples. What you have to do is make sure they see that you've already made a purchase so after about twenty minutes, rest your shopping bag on the counter. Then ask for a sample and as soon as it's in your hot little hand, tell the sales associate you'll be back and hit up the next counter!

7. As you are making a purchase don't expect the sales associate to thank you. The last time that Clinique was having a gift with purchase promotion, the sales associate was flirting with some guy who was not purchasing anything. As I stood there for ten minutes waiting my turn, she finally turned to me and asked me if I needed help. I then told her what I needed while she kept flirting! She never made eye contact with me once, cut me off while I was inquiring about samples and never thanked me for my purchase.

8. Don't get a makover from the Lancôme counter at Dillards unless you are going to a costume party as once of the characters from Dynasty, even the makeup artists have this look! However, at Foley's, the Lancome girls all have a natural look and give you a very natural makeover.

9. Skip playing at the Origins counter as they don't have a sink there so you can't wash off anything you play with. It's better just to go to the Origins store instead where they are actually nice and let you play in freedom!

10. While the customer service is lousy, the sales are incredible! They have clearance racks all over the store and it's good stuff, not leftover crappy stock they've had since the '70's!